Lenzerheide: Raich leads SL, but Svindal solid in 12th

Benni Raich, needing a win and a low result from Aksel Lund Svindal to take the World Cup overall title, was fastest in the first run of a men’s giant slalom Sunday at World Cup Finals.
    Raich skied the Silvano Beltrametti slalom course in 48.19 seconds, with Austrian Mario Matt second, .57 behind, and Canadian Michael Janyk third. Svindal, whose weakest of the disciplines is slalom, skied a solid run to finish 12th.
    The top 15 score points at Finals. With his GS win Saturday, Svindal took a 97-point lead over Raich for the overall. Raich must win Sunday and hope Svindal finishes outside the top 15.
    American Bode Miller skied out on his first run, while Ted Ligety was 13th.
LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland — Benni Raich, needing a win and a low result from Aksel Lund Svindal to take the World Cup overall title, was fastest in the first run of a men’s giant slalom Sunday at World Cup Finals.
    Raich skied the Silvano Beltrametti slalom course in 48.19 seconds, with Austrian Mario Matt second, .57 behind, and Canadian Michael Janyk third. Svindal, whose weakest of the disciplines is slalom, skied a solid run to finish 12th.
    The top 15 score points at Finals. With his GS win Saturday, Svindal took a 97-point lead over Raich for the overall. Raich must win Sunday and hope Svindal finishes outside the top 15.
    American Bode Miller skied out on his first run, while Ted Ligety was 13th. Miller completed just two of the 10 slalom races this season.
    “I achieved almost the perfect run,” said the 29-year-old Raich. “I found a great rhythm from the first gate and was able to attack all the way down. The slope was in great condition and I had nothing to lose so it was very enjoyable.”
    Sweden’s Jens Byggmark, who is also still in contention for the slalom title, was fourth-fastest going into the second leg.
    Svindal’s best slalom result of the season is 13th. He finished 13th at Kitzbühel and again at Schladming in January. His career-best slalom finish was sixth in March 2006 at Shigakogen, Japan.
    Svindal has been unbeatable at this week's World Cup finals, winning the downhill, super-G and giant slalom races within four days. In winning the GS, he also snatched Raich's World Cup discipline crown.
    With a victory on Sunday, Raich would overtake Matt atop the slalom rankings for the discipline title. Raich, Matt and Byggmark were all still in contention for the little globe.

Lenzerheide men’s World Cup slalom results
First run
1. Benjamin Raich, Austria, 48.19 seconds.
2. Mario Matt, Austria, 48.76.
3. Michael Janyk, Canada, 48.87.
4. Jens Byggmark, Sweden, 49.16.
5. Manfred Pranger, Austria, 49.20.
6. Marc Berthod, Switzerland, 49.44.
7. Manfred Moelgg, Italy, 49.53.
8. Jean-Baptiste Grange, France, 49.80.
9. Reinfried Herbst, Austria, 49.87.
10. Kalle Palander, Finland, 49.88.
11. Markus Larsson, Sweden, 50.02.
12. Aksel Lund Svindal, Norway, 50.25.
13. Ted Ligety, United States, 50.36.
14. Silvan Zurbriggen, Switzerland, 50.40.
15. Ivica Kostelic, Croatia, 50.45.
16. Daniel Albrecht, Switzerland, 50.54.
17. Andre Myhrer, Sweden, 50.68.
18. Martin Hansson, Sweden, 50.72.
19. Julien Lizeroux, France, 50.79.
20. Peter Fill, Italy, 50.80.
21. Thomas Grandi, Canada, 51.00
22. Didier Defago, Switzerland, 51.11.
23. Matic Skube, Slovenia, 54.38.
24. Marc Gini, Switzerland, 1:17.78.

Did not finish
Cristian Deville, Italy; Bode Miller, United States; Akira Sasaki, Japan;